MP David Rath fails to convince lower house of his innocence

The Czech Parliament had not seen the like of it – a member of
Parliament, held in police custody on corruption charges, was escorted to
the lower house where he tried to convince his fellow MPs of his innocence.
Such was the scene that unfolded in the Czech Chamber of Deputies on
Tuesday when MP David Rath accused everyone from the interior minister to
the police and prosecutors from destroying his career. But Mr Rath’s
speech failed to impress his colleagues who handed him over for
prosecution.

David Rath, photo: CTK
It was perhaps the most closely watched parliament speech delivered in
modern-day Czech politics. MP David Rath, arrested three weeks ago with
seven million crowns stuffed in a wine box, addressed the lower house in an
attempt to clear himself of the corruption accusations. The police claim
that as Central Bohemian governor, Mr Rath overpriced a public procurement
project and took the bribe as a reward. But David Rath told MPs his arrest
was part of a plot orchestrated by his political enemies.

“I accuse the government of intentionally destroying a member of the
opposition. I accuse the government of applying selective justice, of
abusing the police in political struggle. I accuse the government of using
the pretext of fighting corruption to silence its critic. The government is
unable to lead the country out of the crisis and tries to cover it up with
this fabricated scandal.”

Photo: CTK
It took David Rath, a former Social Democrat health minister, some 50
minutes to deliver his address in which he rejected all accusations. He
said the police failed to prove that the public procurement project was
overpriced in the first place, and criticized the fact that he and seven
other people were held in custody “as if they were dangerous
criminals”.

But Mr Rath did not answer the one question that everybody asked: how he
got the seven million he was detained with, and from whom. Instead, the
former prominent figure of the Social Democrat party hinted the money was
to be used in financing the party which was so quick to distance itself
from him after his arrest.

“Did David Rath accept a bribe? I say he did not. When you look at the
incomplete police file that was made available, you’ll find mentions of
‘money for the elections’ and ‘financing the elections’. Parts of
the file have been leaked and other parts will be leaked so it’s better I
say this now but I won’t comment on it any further.”

David Rath, photo: CTK
Social Democrat officials vehemently denied such a possibility. For their
part, members of the government also rejected Mr Rath’s claims of
politically motivated prosecution. In the end, out of 191 MPs present, 183
voted in favour of Mr Rath’s prosecution. Two voted against while six –
including two Social Democrats abstained. David Rath then returned to his
cell in Litoměřice prison where he will wait until he is formally brought
to court.

However, the question that remains is why the authorities made such an
effort in investigating and prosecuting David Rath while dedicating much
lesser resources to other blatant corruption cases, most notably those
linked to the parties currently in power.